We use these pronouns when talking about the third person. In English grammar, there are types of indefinite pronouns like singular, plural, and pronouns that can be used with both. They can come as a subject in a sentence, an object, an adjective, or after prepositions.
Singular indefinite pronouns
There are two parts:
1- There are four primary pronouns (some - any - no - every), then we add suffixes to determine the meaning, as for people, things, or places. These pronouns are singular.
|
For people |
For things |
For places |
|
Everyone Everybody |
Everything |
Everywhere |
|
Someone Somebody |
Something |
Somewhere |
|
Anyone Anybody |
Anything |
Anywhere |
|
No one Nobody |
Nothing |
Nowhere |
Note:
Only pronouns that start with (any) can be used with positive and negative sentences as well.
Examples:
|
Someone left books here. |
|
Nothing can be fixed in this car. |
|
I take my phone with me everywhere I go. |
|
There is nobody in the room. |
|
I bought everything I needed. |
2- The second part of the pronouns are also singular.
|
Another |
|
Each |
|
Either |
|
Enough |
|
Little |
|
Much |
|
Neither |
|
Other |
Examples:
|
Each student has books. |
|
Either of you can submit the form. |
|
Neither of you is accepted in the competition. |
Plural indefinite pronouns
The pronouns are plural.
|
Both |
|
Few |
|
Many |
|
Others |
|
Several |
Examples:
|
Both of the students didn’t show up at school. |
|
Many people are in the building. |
|
Other teachers won’t give you a lot of homework. |
|
Few of them write their full name. |
Singular and plural indefinite pronouns
It can be singular or plural, depending on the context and the subject.
|
All |
|
Any |
|
More |
|
Most |
|
None |
|
Some |
|
Such |
Examples:
|
All of the milk was expired. |
|
All of the tables are made of wood. |
|
None of the juice is left. |
|
None of the cookies are left. |
Note:
We can use all the previous pronouns as adjectives if we put a noun after them. We call them indefinite adjectives.
Example: There are several people here.
These were the types of indefinite pronouns and their uses with the singular and plural. If you have any questions or suggestions, you can share them in the comments section below.
Exercise:
Complete with the correct indefinite pronoun.
1- She lives …. near the lake. (everywhere, anywhere, somewhere)
2- I don’t know …. at the party. (anything, anyone, anywhere)
3- …. he said was true. (Everybody, Everyone, Everything)
4- After the research, we found …. . (anything, nothing, no one)
5- I think …. took my purse by mistake. (anybody, everybody, somebody)
Answers
1- somewhere
2- anyone
3-Everything
4- nothing
5- somebody